The Threads of Magic by Alison Croggon (best books for students to read .TXT) 📗

old women who deserved none of the cruelties visited upon them.”

“But they took Ma away.”

“My dear, your mother is very likely quite safe,” said Missus Orphint. “I doubt they actually know anything. And she is a royal housekeeper. If they don’t let her go, a lot of people in the Old Palace will complain bitterly. Nobody likes it when the privies aren’t cleaned.”

Pip was finding Missus Orphint rather disconcerting. At first she had seemed vague, a dotty old woman, but the more she spoke, the less vague she seemed. It was as if a mist were lifting. Maybe her air of bewilderment was, he thought, a kind of disguise.

She was talking of Amina’s arrest as if it were only a minor problem. He had to admit that it was comforting.

“What if they don’t let her go?” he said.

“Maybe things are different now,” said Oni. “Because of the . . . because of the . . .” She didn’t want to name the Heart out loud.

“If they don’t, we shall just have to help her get out, won’t we?” Missus Orphint smiled around the table. “But let’s just see first what happens. What we really need to think about is what to do with you three.”

“Ma said she was going to see the Witches’ Council,” said Oni. “But we don’t know what she planned.”

“She wanted to ensure that the princess could leave the palace,” said Missus Orphint.

“She spoke to you about Georgie?” said Oni.

“Yes, very briefly. And obviously about other things.”

“Well, we can’t worry about the princess now,” said El. “She’ll be all right — she’s a royal. It’s Amina we have to worry about.”

“Unfortunately, we have to worry about everything at once,” said Missus Orphint. As she spoke there was an ominous rumble of thunder, and she glanced out the window. A few heavy drops were beginning to fall. “You made it here before the storm — well done. I was just about to have something to eat. Let’s deal with the important things first.”

She refilled their mugs and then opened a cupboard and took out a large pie crowned with golden pastry. A fragrant smell of cheese and herbs filled the kitchen. The cat yawned and jumped onto the chair she had just vacated.

“No, you’ve had your supper, Amiable,” Missus Orphint said, putting the pie on the table and flicking the cat gently on her nose. She smiled at her three weary guests. “I made it this afternoon. I must have known you were coming. So eat up, and then you can tell me everything that’s happened.”

Later, after she had put her guests to bed in her attic, Missus Orphint poured herself a tiny glass of sherry and sat in her favorite chair listening to the rain. Amiable meowed and leaped onto her lap, and the witch stroked her fur absently, frowning at the wall. Her air of vagueness had completely fallen away now: she looked stern and a little sad.

“Amiable, I don’t like this at all,” she said slowly.

The cat regarded her with her green eyes and purred.

“I don’t believe we can depend on Amina Bemare being permitted to leave custody. Someone may have reported her, unlikely though that seems.”

“Perhaps there are informers,” said Amiable.

“Exactly. It’s possible that Cardinal Lamir has information that he’s been waiting to use.” She sighed and took another sip. “Or maybe it’s just coincidence, because those children are friends.”

Amiable nudged her hand because she had stopped stroking, and Missus Orphint smiled and scratched under her chin.

“Perhaps we should take care of the princess tonight. Amina was insistent that we get her out of the clutches of the Specter, and it seems to me that events are going to start moving fast.”

She drained her sherry and poured herself another. “Yes, I think we should do it tonight. It would give us one less thing to do later, if everything goes wrong. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to go out in the rain.”

Amiable stopped purring, and her claws dug into Missus Orphint’s thigh. “Me?” she said. “Now?”

“I’m sorry, my dear. I don’t believe it will wait. I can’t do it myself.”

“But rain gets in my ears. I hate it.”

“I know. But it has to be done.”

“All right then.” The cat sounded very sulky.

Missus Orphint carefully put Amiable on the ground and stood up. “The thing is, if Amina Bemare can’t talk the Office into releasing her, and if they decide to try their methods on her, it won’t go well.”

“I wouldn’t like to stand against Missus Bemare,” said Amiable.

“No. I wouldn’t either. But I confess to some anxiety . . .”

She bent down and traced a curious pattern on Amiable’s neck with the tips of her fingers. Where she touched her there was a brief silver glow that vanished into her fur.

“There. You should stay dry now.”

Missus Orphint opened the kitchen window, and the smell of damp earth and breathing greenery filled the kitchen. She watched as Amiable vanished into the downpour.

She doubted that anyone would hear from Amina until she was released. The more time that passed, the more likely it was that she had been sent to the dungeons of the Office for Witchcraft Extermination. That could be disastrous.

Missus Orphint didn’t doubt that Amina would be able to get herself out of there. But she might be forced to use magic . . . And if she did have to use magic, in the very center of the Office for Witchcraft Extermination, it would mean that witches couldn’t stay hidden anymore.

It would be a declaration of war.

GEORGETTE WAS SUPPOSED TO DINE IN THE GRAND hall that evening, but late in the afternoon she pleaded a sick headache. The last thing she felt like doing was talking to courtiers. Or being looked at.

Since the betrothal ceremony that morning, she had been feeling more and more depressed. Every second of her day was regulated, but now it was going to be worse: she would have to dine with her